The Silver Sentry
by Mona.E.Lisa
Summary: Many children wandered into the Justice HQ looking for assistance and a warm place, and Mike invested good money into an entire building downtown solely dedicated to rehabilitating and rehoming orphaned or abused children. But never had one demanded joining the Force. Or how Michelangelo became a dad for the first time. Part of my Teenage Mecha Ninja Turtles AU.
1. A Bold Step

**I don't usually put a note before the story but here we are. This is part of the '2090' universe I'm messing with. More info about it is over on AO3 because its easier to explain it with the series thing they have going on.**

* * *

"Turtle Titan, there's someone here to see you." Mike raised a brow and clicked his tongue.

"Unless they have a bomb strapped to them, I'm busy."

"It's a young boy, sir. He's very persistent."

Mike sighed and slammed his phone down on the receiver. Being a super hero was hard, but being the leader of Earth's intergalactic defence force was even worse. It was all about paper work, insurance, public and political relations. But Mike took it all on the chin. Life was pretty good and the actual good work he was doing was worth the mind-numbing bureaucracy.

He dropped his pen and closed the file and dumped it on the seemingly never-ending pile. Tugging at the cowl hanging from his neck, he pulled it up and over his head and made his way out of his office. The floor he was on was dedicated to him. Perks of being the leader of the Justice Force. He had plans to renovate half the floor to be liveable, considering he practically lived in HQ.

"What can I help you with, little dude?" Mike glided down the stair case of the main entrance. When the city had given him the building he made a point of keeping everything simple, non-threatening and not too rich. Lots of soft teals and white. He insisted that the headquarters double as a homeless shelter and didn't want anyone to feel they couldn't wander in and ask for help.

"I want to join the Justice Force!" Mike looked the boy up and down. He was under fed, under dressed and overzealous. His brown skin looked clammy, like he was sick.

"What do your parents think about that?"

"Don't have any."

Mike was thankful that the sharp frown on his face was hidden under his cowl. He didn't need it to hide his identity, but it was embedded with useful technology that scanned the child's face and told him that there was no record of any missing person matching the boy in front of him.

"Got a name, kiddo?"

"Terrence."

"Well Terrence, follow me to my office. We'll see what we can do." Mike smiled, toothy and bright white, motioning to the staircase. The kid followed, leaving enough distance between them for Mike's cape to billow behind him.

Once Mike had the kid seated in his office, with fruit and water, he peeled his cowl off. Terrence seemed to falter for a moment.

"You ok?"

"Fine. I thought you'd be older."

"I'm thirty, that's pretty old," Mike chuckled, resting his elbows on the desk and leaning forward. "Look, I can't let you join the Justice Force."

"Why not?"

"You're way too young," Mikey tilted his head ever so slightly. "How old are you?"

"No idea" Terrence mumbled, suddenly far most interested in staring at his fruit than looking at Mike. "I don't really age right."

Mike nodded. Many children wandered into the Justice HQ looking for assistance and a warm place, and Mike invested good money into an entire building downtown solely dedicated to rehabilitating and rehoming orphaned or abused children. But never had one demanded joining the Force.

"Well, you're too small. Being a hero is a big responsibility." Mikey smiled. "It's not right I throw you into any fights when you're this little. But I gotta ask, why did you think I would?"

"Cos I can do stuff," Terrence said simply and chewed on his fruit.

-:-

 _Do stuff indeed._

Mikey watched with his mouth slightly opened as the wall Terrence had hit in frustration crumbled.

"I told you I don't know!" Terrence yelled, dislodging his fist from the brick and flying, _flying,_ up and over the building. Mike wanted to take Terrence out for some fresh air, to clear both of their heads and to help the kid feel more comfortable and open up. So, he switched to his civilian clothes and got Terrence into some cleaner ones, with the intention of eating lunch at the park. But Raph just had to crash the party.

"You have no tact," Mike grumbled, staring at his brother. "You meet the kid for five minutes and this is what happens!"

Raph didn't appear to care. "It's an honest question!"

"That he dodged three times, take a hint, bro!"

Raph threw his hands in the air with one of his trademark yells and stormed inside the Justice Headquarters. Mike would deal with him later.

Mike swung, flipped and jumped his way up the side of the building, hoping to find Terrence sulking on the roof. The building in New York were getting a taller and taller with every passing year, so it took a lot longer than it used it.

"Hey, Terrence! Little T!" Mike called out, peering around the exposed frames. Why the building was still being extended Mike didn't know. If he was lucky we could swing for a bigger office.

"Go away!" The grumble came from above. Mike looked up and smiled fondly at the figure perched on the framework two levels up.

"Sorry, little man! Can't do that." Mike silently and effortlessly bounced up the frame to sit next to Terrence. He took note of how Terrence hunched in on himself. Mike tilted his head towards the immense technicolour skyline of New York. "It's nice up here isn't it?"

"Yeah. I remember when it used to be a lot more grey," Terrence made himself even smaller. Mike felt something go upside down in his stomach when the boy's frowned turned into a scowl.

"You know, you don't have to have all the answers. You're just a kid."

"A really old kid."

"And I'm pretty young as far as adults go," Mike grinned like a dope. "But what I mean is I can help!"

"I don't need you help!" Terrence screamed and shot off into the horizon, faster than Mike could process.

"That could have gone better."

-:-

Mike didn't swear. He didn't like it, thought it was a waste of language and honestly, he had better ways of expressing himself.

But sometimes…

"For fuck sake!" he yelled, slamming the door to the lair shut behind him. He had no sleep in 48 hours, running on energy drinks and sugar sticks, fretting and clawing his scales off over Terrence. "What the fuck am I doing trying to maintain this city's CPS system if it can't even keep track of an ageless kid?! Crap all shit house of a system, you'd think they'd flag the kids file with _hey b t dubs holy balls this kid fucking flies_."

Mike's expression was of crazed expectation, waiting for his brothers and father to respond. They for their part just barely kept their chins of the floor. It was rare that all of his brothers were in New York at the same time these days. Donnie was always off at one university or lab somewhere. Leo was helping Splinter maintain his old dojos. And Raph was… who knew? The guy just wandered off every now and then.

"You ok, Mike?" Don asked cautiously.

"Fine, just skippy, really." Mike seethed and dumped a foot-thick stack of files and papers on the dining room table, oblivious to his family eating dinner. "However, _Debra_ from children's services is going to have a _hell_ of a time when I get through her case files."

"Ooooooookay, Mikey. Remember that talk we had about you taking a step away from work to get a little perspective?" Leo smiled, and reached up to rub Mike's shoulder. "I think this is one of those times."

"Stop talking, Leo." Mike grumbled, shrugging his brother's hand off. "There's a little kid out there who needs my help, and apparently I'm the only one in his piss poor city with the reach or the stinking empathy to do it."

Mike picked up his stack of papers because his point had been made. "I'm going out!"

"You just came in!" Raph yelped.

"I suppose it is better than him lounging around watching b-grade horror movies all day," Splinter mumbled after the door slammed behind Mike.

-:-

Four more days without Mike being in the lair and he could tell from the pained expression on Leo's face that his other brothers as a collective had thrown Leo under the bus. Raph because this was all his fault so sticking his foot in Mike's office door would never go well, and Donnie had to drag Mike back last time he went shell mad.

Leo hated the Justice Force Headquarters and even with the sleep deprivation Mike couldn't help his wicked smile.

"We don't see you around these parts often. I'm surprised security let you in."

"Michelangelo, come home." If there was one thing Mike admired about his brother it was how he didn't dance around. Not because he was especially blunt or unaware. They both knew how Leo could really nit-pick everything Mike was handling right now. But it wasn't going to get either of them very far.

Mike huffed. "Drop the tone, _Leonardo_." Mike mocked his brother's tone, still smiling. "It stopped working about ten years ago."

"Five, _at most._ " Leo smiled tightly. "But really, take a break. Don't make Splinter come up here."

"I slept some this morning." Mike's eyes drifted back to his computer and he started to tap away at his keyboard. "Besides, Donnie would have a try to get me home before Splinter lifted a finger."

"No, he's very adamant that he's not coming up this time." Leo smacked his lips and rocked back on his heels. Mike watched him for a moment in his peripheral. Leo continued to rock, twiddling his thumbs.

"Really? This is how you're playing it?" Mikey sighed. "Si'down, Leo. I have to finish this report. Gimme fifteen, kay?"

"A report?" Leo asked, sitting down and leaning back in the swivel chair. "Doesn't sound right coming out of your mouth."

"Yeah, the superhero fantasy kind of gets shattered when insurance companies are breathing down your neck." Mike flipped through the papers on his desk and showed off a picture of a smashed up car. "Metal Head got careless and used this as a weapon. Now I have to buy the Stevenson family a new car."

"Lucky them."

"Yeah."

Mike turned back to the computer. Unlike when Donnie (who asked endless questions) or Raph (who prattled on endlessly about whatever had slighted him that day) showed up at HQ, Leonardo was comfortable to sit there and not talk while Mike worked. Mike suspected it was because a small part of Leo was jealous of the whole superhero thing, even though they all knew the lifestyle really didn't suit him. Leo couldn't talk the talk like Mike. Very little of the job had anything to do with saving the day. Maybe thirty percent and the rest was public relations.

At the slightest squeaking sound, Mike glanced at his brother. Leonardo, apparently when idle regressed to a five-year-old, and was spinning his chair. Mike bit down on a smirk as his brother kicked off the ground with his toes to build more momentum.

"So, how's Debra?"

"Going to jail."

The spinning stopped. "What?"

"Yeah, bro. Three kids died."

"Oh my god."

"Alright, I'm done." Mikey clicked send on his email and cracked his knuckles. "Can we get pizza on the way home?"

-:-

Intergalactic incidents always put Mike in a bad mood. Dealing with aliens was bad enough, but the problem was big enough he had to recruit his brothers into the fighting efforts. Which was like pulling teeth and today was a good day.

So, all Mike wanted to do was get back to HQ, ditch his uniform and go home. He definitely didn't want to deal with the snidey looking prick with a grin full of teeth like tooth picks and an obnoxiously crisp suit currently stinking out his office with overpriced aftershave.

"Not only are you inside, but its dark outside. Loose the stupid sun glasses," Mike grumbled. He was in full uniform, he needed to act like it. "You jackass."

"Hello to you too, Turtle Titan." Mike swept his way into his office and pointedly ignored the hand the man held out to him. Mike's singed cape fluttered behind him, because he flicked it up for added effect.

"I don't know why you're here, Bishop." Mike said tightly. He sat heavily in his chair and stared at the still standing man with a blank expression.

"It's official business." Bishop sat in the chair across Mike's desk.

"I didn't offer you a seat."

"I believe you recently came across something that belongs to me."

Mike always compared Bishop's voice to thin glass. It was smooth but if it cracked it would cut you.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, you kook. And I'm not in the mood for games." Mike let a little bit of a sneer into his voice.

Given that both Mike and Bishop found themselves knee deep in alien relations and meta/mutant-human issues, there could be a million different things Bishop wanted to bother him about. But it couldn't have been just a coincidence that Terrence had come and gone just a month before.

"The boy, Titan." Not that the guy was really smiling before, but the more pleasant of his repertoire of two expressions dropped into the other one. "I know he was here."

" _Was_ here, Bish." Mike smiled. "And you know that if he was still here he'd only be leaving with you over my dead body?"

"Is that so?"

"You'll need to rip my shell from my back."

"Well I suppose there isn't much point in continuing this conversation." Bishop stood, body taut.

"I don't know why you bothered starting it," Mike said flatly. "You even showing up here was stupid."

"You think so?"

"I know so. If you had any actual claim to the kid, you wouldn't be here trying to intimidate me. Which by the way has never worked so stop embarrassing us both." Mike stood up and rounded the desk to stand in front of Bishop. "You lost track of another of your off the book projects."

"You think you're so clever." Bishop frowned for a second, rankling the long scar on his forehead.

"No, you're just predictable." Mike smiled, knowing he was throwing Bishop off. "Now get the hell out of my office."

"Good day, Titan." Bishop nodded, and turned to leave like they were old friends and not ready to tear each other limb from limb.

"Oh, and Bishop? I know you'll be hanging around for a while." Mike grinned wickedly. "Step one toe out of line and we're going to have a repeat of _last time_."

Bishop nodded, nonplussed.

Mike was ready to smash his desk. It started to make a little more sense. If a kid wanted to be a hero, they said so. They would go on and on. They'd, well, be _a kid_ about it.

But now that Bishop was in the picture? It totally changed how Mike saw Terrence.

"He was looking for an escape, shit!" Mike yelled and threw his pile of papers off his desk.

Mike knew Bishop. He'd seen what he did behind closed doors. Mike's gut twisted. The poor boy knew that if he had something to tie him to the world outside of Bishop's labs the creep couldn't just drag him back and pretend it never happened. He'd probably saw Turtle Titan's celebrity status and thought that would be his best bet.

The kid didn't want to be a hero. He just wanted to be safe.

-:-

Mike knew there was no point going through Bishop's business. It would get him nowhere other than some government list that even Bishop couldn't get him off of. Because sure, they were on each other's personal shit lists, but Mike had resources that Bishop wanted and vice versa. They were useless to each other if there were more spoons in the soup.

"What troubles you, my son?"

Mike wasn't one hundred percent sure how or when he ended up slumped against his father's shoulder on the couch. The TV wasn't even on, apparently, he and his father had just been chilling out.

Maybe his brothers were onto something when they went on about him working too much.

"Thinking about the kid." Mike mumbled, shifting slightly to take some off his weight off his aging father. "It's been a month and a half since he flew off."

"I sure he will be fine."

"Hmm. I don't think so. Not a kid like him." Mike looked but at Splinter, who had his eyes closed. "There are some rotten people in this world."

"Ah yes, how is Debra's case going?"

"She's not seeing the light of day without bars anytime soon."

"Hmm."

"Hmm? Hmm what?" Mike sat up properly. Splinter opened his eyes and looked at Mike with a calm smile.

"I can't say this is how I expected you to grow up, my son."

Mike stiffened. "Really?"

"Really. You were always so carefree when you were small. And then as a teen you were always helping your brothers and friends shift their emotional toil." Splinter's lips dipped down at the corners for a moment before he regained his composure. "I just assumed that meant you could handle your stresses well enough on your own."

"I think I handle them fine." He didn't like that he couldn't stop his tight tone, but he really didn't like that he was thirty and Splinter seemed hell bent on making him feel thirteen again.

"You disappear into your work for days at a time, you have random outbursts of anger, and you get emotionally withdrawn." Splinter's face shifted to a full frown, a sad glint in his eyes. "You've spent so long shouldering how your brother's handle things that I missed you adopting those traits."

"Well nothing we can do about it now, I'm a fun-loving mish-mash." Mike went to stand up, thoroughly uncomfortable. Splinter gripped his shoulder.

"Sit down, Michelangelo."

"Oh no, I'm being parented." Mike smiled all twitchy like he was thirteen again. Maybe sixteen. Mike really didn't know what uncomfortable age he was supposed to be feeling like right now because this whole 'we're the only two in the lair and you need some one on one fatherly guidance' just didn't happen when he was a kid. "Why?"

Splinter looked pained and Mike didn't feel bad because who's fault was the awkward mood, really?

"I can tell you have no intention of simply sending this boy away to a safe home. You care a great deal."

Mike pressed his lips into a thin line. Sure, that was true, but now that Bishop was involved it was a little more complicated than that.

"That might be on the table" he said carefully.

"Don't tip toe with me, Michelangelo. You may not be blunt, but vagueness doesn't suit you."

"I'm being as straight forward as I can." This was awful. Mike didn't have these conversations with Splinter. Or any of his family because he really can't talk about the inner workings of underground government agencies.

Bishop really shouldn't have told him about it, but Mike realised pretty quick it was a backwards but effective way of keeping him in line.

Oh, conversation had stalled, whoops.

"Um, was there a specific reason you brought this up?" Mike squinted and tried not to think like this was an interrogation. But he was really starting to look for a way to run away. "Ah, no are you dying? It that-"

"No, I'm not dying." Splinter chuckled. "But I am leaving New York."

"What?"

"Given the social changes in the world, I've been able to reclaim my assets and estates. As such I am returning to Japan."

"Oh wow." Ok now Mike felt like he was knocked back to about five years old. "Are you coming back?"

"I don't know. Leonardo has expressed his wishes to join me and set himself up in Japan."

"Right, well that's… great." Mike smiled and patted Splinter on the shoulder.

"I'm leaving the lair to you."

"Huh?"

He felt like he just got slapped in the face. Not like an insult, just shock.

"Your intention is to adopt that boy. You need a home to rule as your own. I have discussed it with your brothers and given their lifestyle choices they are happy for me to pass the whole deed on to you."

Mike blinked. And blinked. And blinked.

"Michelangelo?"

"I'm honestly trying to pick an emotion right now." Mike closed his eyes and frowned. "I mean thank you, this is… amazing. I mean, I'm not keen on being the last to know but… um."

"You're withdrawing."

"Because I feel like screaming, Dad." Mike looked at Splinter earnestly. "I know we don't talk about stuff, but geez! When we do its always something full on!"

"I'm sorry."

"I just. I'll be good. I just… yeah." Mike patted Splinter's shoulder again, got up and left the lair.

-:-

"Are you done having an existential crisis?"

"Raph, the last time Splinter had a deep and meaningful talk with me, it was to tell me Leatherhead died."

Mike sat curled on the bare cement on the new level in the Justice Force HQ. The room was empty and dusty. If Mike was going to be sullen and moody he was going to have an aesthetic to match. It being the middle of the night and the room moonlit was a nice touch.

"Yikes, ok."

Mike didn't want to talk about this. Not with Raph anyway. The guy was going to run out of New York the next day.

So Raph just sat down and started talking out the most recent national park he'd been camping in. It was the one thing Mike would give Raph credit, he was good at making comforting noise.

Mike smiled at his brother. Raph had sat just far enough that it wasn't easy for Mike to just lean on him like he used to. They were too old for that now, or so Raph said when they turned twenty.

"Thanks, Raph," Mike said abruptly, interrupting his brothers ramble about pine trees. "For coming here tonight."

"You serious?"

"Yeah, serious."

-:-

"So, you're ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine. But it's becoming a lot more apparent that the rest of the family had been talking about this for a long time." Mike smiled at the webcam. "Thanks for the heads up."

"Hey!" Donnie put his hands up in surrender, the frame rate dropping for a second or two. "I honestly thought he'd wait till you actually had the kid before hauling ass to Japan."

"Did you all forget I already have an apartment?"

"Yeah, but you haven't been there in five years." Donnie looked unimpressed. "I tried to argue that too, but I checked out your apartment, Mike. It's a shit hole."

Mike raised a brow and bit into his apple. He should have been sorting through paper work, but Donnie was hard to catch when he was half way across the globe. Whatever calamity the pile of papers ensured could wait.

"Right, so! I know a few conspiracy guys."

"Really?" Mike frowned. "Doesn't seem like your crowd."

"All science is conspiracy until proven."

"Sure."

"Anyway, I'm emailing you some things. Do you know what a cryptid is?"

"Bigfoot?"

Donnie smiled and it was a shit eating one. "Yeah, but this one goes by the name Terrence."

"What now?" Mike spat pieces of apple onto his computer screen.

Mike opened his emails and clicked refresh incessantly until what Donnie sent came through.

"Yeah, some guys were looking for some bat thing a few states over and found him instead."

"Don, I'm sorry, but I gotta go!"

"Duh."

"I can't believe I've been looking for two months and my first solid stinking lead comes from stoners in the woods."

"You going on a road trip?"

"I'm taking the jet."

" _You have a jet!?_ "

Now Mike had the shit eating grin.

-:-

Mike just about screamed when he got his foot stuck in _another_ mudhole. He was glad Raph had recommended he get decent boots. Raph also recommended a few hundred dollars worth of other camping supplies that Mike bought because _"I trust you, Raph."_

Mike figured he'd be out in the woods for a few days. Terrence had been seen regularly over the previous two weeks in a national park. Mike honestly didn't know where he actually was, just punching the coordinates into the jet's navigation system without taking it in. And the short trip he spent fussing on how he was going to approach Terrence.

Casual was out of the question. Because how do you act casual about jumping a couple of states to find a kid you don't actually know?

And that was as far as Mike got. He thought he was best to just wing it.

But back to the mudhole. Mike had just about twisted his ankle, and after two days of hiking in circles, he was ready to drop every curse word he knew.

"Motherfu-"

"Didn't think you spoke like that."

Mike tried to pivot with his foot still stuck. He ended up buckling at the knee. "Terrence! You're ok."

"Yeah," Terrence said sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his neck and frowned. "Do you need some help?"

"No." Mike grunted and pulled his foot out, wincing at the wet sound the mud made. Carefully approached Terrence, keeping plenty of space between them. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." The kid looked dirty, but fine, still in the clothes Mike had given him back in New York. Miked nodded. "I didn't think you'd come looking for me."

"Of course I would. You needed help," Mike said, a little sad.

"People don't usually come looking for me."

"Their loss."

Terrence grimaced, his bare toes curling into the dirt beneath them. "Bishop usually scares them off."

"Bishop doesn't scare me." Mike smiled. "You know that big scar on his forehead?"

"Yeah?"

"I did that." Mike put his hands on his hips and puffed his chest proudly.

"Really!?" Mike realised this was the most hopeful he'd seen Terrence. Mike forgot sometimes how wide eyed kids could get.

"Yup!" Mike softened his grin and leaned down to look Terrence in the eyes. "I promise he won't take you back. He can't"

"Bishop said he can do what he likes."

"Bishop is wrong." Mike reached over slowly and rested a hand on Terrence's shoulder. "I'll adopt you. He won't be able to take you then."

"I don't need a dad."

"Fine." Mike nodded. "But you need someone looking out for you. I'm going to do that."

Terrence nodded and said nothing. Mike didn't push him to talk. Instead they wordlessly hiked to the cave Terrence had been camping in. The boy didn't have much else other than the clothes on his back, but they picked up the backpack he had hidden.

"How'd you even get here?" Terrence asked quietly as they left the cave. "Turtle Titan can't fly."

"I took the jet."

"Wait, _you have a jet!?_ "

-:-

Splinter and Leonardo weren't leaving for Japan for another month at least, so Mike had to begrudgingly hunt down the keys to his old apartment. The lair didn't have enough space for Terrence, and with Raph and Donnie in and out constantly it wasn't stable enough Mike had decided. Terrence needed to feel comfortable and safe in his own space. Having his brothers hanging around asking tactless and never-ending questions wasn't good for that. And he never got his level at HQ renovated.

The problem was Mike's old apartment was exactly how he left it five years ago.

He felt like someone had punched him in the face.

"Are you ok, Mike?" Terrence asked sceptically, shifting the weight of the cleaning supplies he was carrying. He hadn't left Mike's side in the two days since they got back to New York. They'd spent an extra week camping to get to know each other a little better, but Mike knew Terrence was keen to stall knowing Bishop was still in New York.

"Yeah," Mike said, voice a little watery. "I just…"

They needed to clean. Terrence seemed ok with Mike's silence and started sweeping. The electricity hadn't been reconnected yet, but the thick layer of dust needed to be dealt with. Mike wandered over to the tall windows and opened them. The place smelled musty.

"It's pretty big," Terrence said, trying to be casual even though he was obviously itching to look at the photos hanging on the walls.

The apartment was a beautiful duplex, with tall ceilings and exposed brick walls. There were two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. Down stairs was an open living space with a second bathroom. Mike stared out the window at the view of the bay and smiled at the fuss that was made over picking the spiral staircase, and whether or not the wood of the coffee table should match the wood of the dining table.

"My husband was a big man" Mike said quietly, still facing the window. The gentle sweeping behind stopped and Mike figured he should continue. Can't drop a bomb like that and not tell all. "We bought this place after we got married. It was just an empty box and the area wasn't that great, so we got it cheap."

Mike heard the gentle sound of a picture being taken off the wall. "He was an alligator?"

"A friend of my brothers. Donnie brought him home to work on some university stuff." Mike laughed. "He was so mad when Leatherhead and I eloped. The whole family was."

"The Turtle Titan running off and doing something spontaneous? Never." Terrence teased. It was nice that the kid felt comfortable enough so quickly to make jokes. "What happened to him?"

"He died." It was the first time in years he was saying it out loud. The words felt wrong in his throat. He turned to face Terrence. "There was a fire at the university he was working at."

"Oh. That's…" Terrence hung the picture back on the wall and stared at the smiling faces. "No wonder you didn't come back here."

"My father came here to tell me. My brother was there as well and had told my father what had happened before the authorities could." Mike breathed in deep through his nose. Terrence turned back at him, eyes wide. "He took me back to the lair and I just never came back."

"I get that." Terrence twisted the broom handle in his grip. "Are you sure you want to come back here? Because of me?"

Mike smiled, soft and warm. "I honestly can't think of a better reason."

-:-

The place cleaned up alright. Mike had to remember to thank Donnie for coming in and taking all the food out a week after everything happened. He really didn't want to think about what he might have found if the cupboards weren't cleared out.

But the furniture had to go. There was a lot of memories there. When his family would eventually ask he'd tell them it was all about a fresh start, new me, all that jazz.

But the main reason was all he could think about when he looked at his old couch was that time he and Leatherhead had fooled around on it, so it just had to go.

It all smelt anyway. Like… stagnant five-year-old apartment. He was pulling at straws for a justification.

Between Mike and Terrence, it was easy to load everything in the apartment down to the truck Mike hired. He'd donate everything to a halfway house or something.

But that left the apartment empty save for the photos on the wall Terrence had carefully dusted and polished. Mike was looking to revitalise, not totally forget.

"So, we need new beds, dining table, couch, TV," Mike prattled as they got into his car. "Plus, all the kitchen stuff."

"Can we get some video games?" Terrence asked, clicking in his seat belt.

"Kiddo, you can get whatever you want."

Money wasn't a problem for Mike. Being Turtle Titan paid well, plus the stupid sponsorship deals he was forever signing. So, he just let himself be dragged around the different stores, nodding a yes at all of Terrence's choices. The poor sales clerk looked over whelmed by the sheer volume of furniture they were buying, plus paying extra for next day delivery and set up. Mike didn't think he'd ever brought someone so close to crying.

"You ok, miss?"

"I work commission."

That'll do it.

Same went for when they went shopping for appliances and all the TV stuff. The sales clerk looked just as overwhelmed by the image of the Turtle Titan nodding at every ridiculous decision the bouncing kid in front of him made. 100 inch TV? Sure. Every latest console and five games for each? Yup. A blender for no other reason than it looks neat? Okay.

Raph was unimpressed. Mike ducked and swerved to dodge his brother's onslaught of punches. He missed sparring with his brother.

"You're letting him have a TV in his room?"

"Yeah."

"You're spoiling him."

"Hey, I'm having a TV in my room too!"

Mike wasn't looking to be a dad and Terrence was looking for a dad. Terrence needed a safe place and Mike was the only one who could provide it. If that meant spoiling the kid, then fine.

"Just, don't do what Splinter did to you alright?" Raph said in a moment of rare sincerity. They'd paused from their sparring. "The stuff is great. I guess it helps him feel more at home. But Splinter thought you were just happy with stuff too." Raph patted Mike on the shoulder and moved to leave the dojo.

"Wait." Mike spoke before he could stop himself. "You… You'll tell me, right? I'm not trying to be his dad but, you'll tell me if I do to him what Splinter did, right?"

Raph nodded, his face in a hard frown. "Splinter was good to me. But I know he left you high and dry. I'll tell you, Mike."

"I've got to talk to him." Mike spoke quietly. "I never thought I could talk to Splinter."

"That'd be a good first step."

Mike laughed. "Look at you being all mature and wise."

"Hey, someone has to look out for your dumbass."

Mike chuckled and watched Raph leave, trying not to think too hard about that fact.

-:-

"Hey, Terrence. Come sit down, I want to talk about something."

Terrence, shuffled out of the butler's pantry and over to the ridiculously huge couch. It wasn't too big for the space, but Mike suspected that Terrence had picked the plush, L-shaped seven-seater so they could both sit on the couch without having to be too close to each other. Part of Mike thought that maybe he should have paid more attention when they were shopping, but the rest of him just wanted the kid to be happy.

"What's up?" Terrence said through a mouth full of a lot more cookies than Mike said he could have. He floated over the back of the couch and landed softly with his legs crossed.

"I need you to know something." Mike sat up straighter, careful not to look like he was trying to intimidate the boy. "While you're here, I want you to feel like you can talk to me."

Terrence frowned, squinting a little. "Ok?"

"Look…" Mike figured being honest was best. Terrence seemed to relax a lot more after he learned about Leatherhead. "I don't have a great relationship with my father."

"I told you, I don't _need a dad_ " Terrence spat through gritted teeth.

"I know, I know. Just hear me out." Mike smiled, twisting his hands together before gesturing around the room. "My dad, he put a roof over my head, he gave me things like video games and cookies. He thought all those things made me happy and he didn't wonder if I got sad. My brothers weren't very good at hiding when they were upset or if something was wrong. So, he assumed that because I didn't act like my brothers, that nothing was wrong."

"Why are you telling me this?" Terrence asked. He was curious but not uncomfortable, which Mike was glad for.

"Because it messed me up" Mike said emphatically. "He never asked me how I was feeling, so I don't know how to handle things a lot of the time. I didn't always feel at home in my home. I don't want you to be like that."

"Splinter didn't seem like the type," Terrence said simply.

"He was good to my brothers. He just… neglected me." Mike looked at Terrence earnestly. "I want to look after you properly, Terrence. I want you to tell me when you're sad, or mad. If something I do upsets you, please tell me. And when I ask you, I want you to be honest with me."

"Ok, I can do that." Terrence fiddled with the cookies in his hand, and frowned a little. "I don't think you're messed up."

"Maybe not, but my relationship with my dad is pretty bad." Mike laughed a little sheepishly. "Just don't feel like you can't be upset just because we have nice stuff, alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Can I go to my room now?"

"Yeah, kiddo. No more cookies though."

-:-

Adopting Terrence was easy. Mike had a strangle hold on the city's CPS system, so no one batted an eye when he made up a file and slipped in into Debra's pile. The judge was in agreeance that Mike would be best suited to raise the boy, given Terrence's powers.

The next issue was his name.

"He isn't keen on taking mine," Mike said to Venus.

"Hmm, but it would be better for your image."

Mike wasn't entirely sure when Venus decided to double as the resident magical shinobi of the Justice Force and the head of public relations. Who thought the Justice Force needed a PR person? But here she was, working wonders and cutting Mike's work load by half on a good day. It was nice having another turtle around and she wrote all of Mike's speeches.

"He's happy with Smith."

"Let me talk to him."

"No." Mike's tone was flat and he didn't give Venus the courtesy of looking up from the newspaper on his desk. "I'm not taking this boy on as a PR stunt and I won't let you turn him into one. Either take my answer and shove off, or be mad about it and shove off."

"Well, I know when I'm beat." Venus twirled and made of the door, the too long tails of her scarf fluttering behind her. "But the public will eventually ask questions. What do you want me to say?"

"Tell them to shove off too," Mike said. He finally looked up and smiled at Venus's back. "By the way, Bishop has been hanging around. He's too chicken at the moment to enter the building, but if he does-"

"I know what to do." She tilted her head ever so slightly and the two shared a wicked smile.

-:-

Bishop thought it better to approach them in the street on their way home from HQ. They were going to get dinner on their walk home and eat it on the roof of their building.

"Hello, Titan. May I join you?"

"No." Mike gritted his teeth as Terrence gripped his hand a little too tightly. The boy had ducked behind Mike. He could feel how Terrence was shaking in his hand and glared at Bishop a little harder. "If you think being in public will stop me from making you go away you're wrong."

"All I want to do is say hello."

"Beat it before I give you a matching scar across your _throat_."

Terrence flinched. Bishop didn't seem fazed.

"How about I join you for dinner?"

Mike wasn't typically prone to outward acts of violence like Raph. But as he flicked his hand out of Terrence's grip and dragged Bishop into the alley by the collar, the last conversation he had with Splinter echoed in is head.

Mike pretended not to hear it.

He was quick and efficient in hurting Bishop. The guy would be stuck slumped in the alley for a while until his healing factor kicked. Bishop was like a roach. Mike had tried to kill him a few times and it never worked. Bishop was just lucky this time around Mike didn't have any knives on him.

He half expected Terrence to have flown off. But Mike turned and there he was, standing at the end on the alley, fists gripping his pant legs. He didn't look scared even though he was still shaking a little. Mike unceremoniously dropped Bishop, who landed with a heavy thud, and cleared his throat a little.

"I probably shouldn't have done that in front of you," he admitted, taking a careful step towards Terrence. When the boy didn't flinch, or make a move to run, Mike took another.

"I've never seen Bishop lose," Terrence mumbled, staring at Bishop.

Truthfully Mike knew that Bishop tended to give into these beatings. Only three times had he fought back and he nearly died each time. It was calculated because he and Mike both knew Mike wasn't the type to kill someone if they didn't resist. It was a last resort for a fight that wouldn't end.

"I told you, I'm not going to let him hurt you." Mike closed the gap and rested a hand on Terrence's shoulder. The boy's eyes darted from Bishop and up to Mike. "How about we get some dinner?"

"You're just gonna leave him?"

"Can't do much else," Mike sighed and used his grip on Terrence's shoulder to turn the boy back down the street. "Guy just won't die."

Terrence only nodded. Mike didn't make a comment about how Terrence spent the rest of the walk pressed to his side, or how when they got to the roof of their building the kid had tucked himself under Mike's arm to eat dinner.

"I kind of don't want him to die," Terrence said suddenly, stopping on the staircase back down to the apartment. Mike turned back and looked up at him.

"No?"

"I mean, sometimes I do." Terrence looked at his feet, twisting his hands in his shirt. "Sometimes I feel really big emotions, like I'll get really mad or sad. All I can think about is how it's all his fault."

Terrence's chin wobbled despite his best efforts. Mike tilted his head affectionately. "That's ok, you know?"

"But killing people is bad."

"Yeah it is, when they're innocent. It's alright when you're protecting yourself." Mike thought for a second. "And I'll kill him to protect you."

Terrence didn't say anything, just looked at Mike. Mike didn't think he should really be saying these sorts of things to a ten-year-old, but Terrence was different. Mike took a deep breath.

"Do you know how I know Bishop?" Terrence shook his head. "Before the Justice Force was formed, I was taken off Earth by aliens. When I got back, I was sent to one of Bishop's labs."

Terrence's eyes widened. "What'd he do to you?"

"Experimented on me," Mike said, determined to keep it vague. "The aliens that took me off Earth had experimented on me too. I was sent to Bishop, so they could make sure I wouldn't hurt anyone, or make the whole city sick. But the point is I know what Bishop does."

And Mike was _lucky_. He was in Bishop's legal labs.

"What do you mean?" Terrence tilted his head slightly.

"It means that I know what he'll do to you if you ever end up back in his hands." Mike took a deep breathe. "It means that if he _ever_ has you cornered and I can't get to you, you're allowed to kill him to escape. It should be your last option, but you won't get in trouble for it."

Terrence puffed his chest out a little. "I can't fight like you."

"I'll teach you," Mike said plainly. "We have five floors of headquarters dedicated to training. I can teach you anything you want."

"But you won't make me join the Justice Force, right?" Terrence started to shift awkwardly again. "Because I don't really want to."

"Of course not."

Terrence nodded and started to bound down the stairs. Mike smiled and followed him.

-:-

Bishop wasn't in the business of taking people and making them super soldiers. His game was to take parts of people and create chimeras of sorts with no other purpose than to fight. He also gave himself the occasional upgrade but they rarely stuck. Turned out Bishop was a slimy prick right down to his genetics.

But that aside, it meant that while Terrence had great control over his powers, he didn't have much practical experience. He could shoot bright silver energy from his eyes at will but had no sense of aim. He could smash a wall with a kick or a punch but had no technique. He was invulnerable to everything the simulator hit him with, so he didn't feel the need to dodge any attacks.

Mike had a lot of work to do. He asked Venus for help.

"I'm not training him to be a soldier, or a weapon," Mike said sternly. He watched Terrence cut the fighting simulator's drone in half with his eye beams and titled his head to Venus, who was watching Terrence just as intently. "This is only so he can protect himself."

Venus hummed. "Between you and I he will be a fine ninja."

"Just basics, Venus. I still need to figure out how to rework what I know and apply it to his powers."

"That'll be easy," Venus said coolly, wiggling her finger so a light blue aura danced around them. "We've made great things out of lesser men."

"He's not a weapon, Venus." Mike had to hold down a snarl. "I know you're as keen as I am to see Bishop suffer, but I hope that the kid never has to use this training."

"Knowing Bishop?" Venus' magic turned dark and murky before suddenly dissipating. "There's a greater chance of peace between the Kraang and Utrom."

Mike shuddered.

-:-

"Hey, I need to ask you something."

"…Sure."

"What's the earliest thing you can remember?"

Terrence mulled the question over as he carefully measured out the flour for the cookies he was making. Terrence insisted he could do it on his own, but Mike stood next to him and watched anyway.

It had been a couple of months since Mike took Terrence in and it was easier to ask questions like these without Terrence flying off the handle. Once or twice early on Mike had pushed too far, but Terrence never ran further than to the rooftop. He was starting to realise that Mike needed to know these things to help him.

"I remember watching the TV with my mum," he said slowly. He put the flour down on the kitchen counter and looked at Mike cautiously. "The news was on, something about an ice skater getting beat up."

"Nancy Kerrigan?" Mike blinked. They were most of the way through 2030, that happened in 1994. "She had her leg broken."

"I don't remember it really well."

"That's ok. How old do you think you were?"

Terrence stepped off the stool he was using to reach the bench top and gestured vaguely between is hip and waist. "I think I was this tall."

God the kid was a toddler _over thirty years ago_. He was older than Mike was.

"Thank you for letting me know." Mike smiled, rubbing Terrence's head. Terrence batted at Mike's hand and took his place back on the stool. He set his dry ingredients aside and started measuring the milk.

"We used to move around a lot." Terrence carefully cracked eggs into a bowl. "If we hung around a place too long people noticed that I didn't grow. Mum got in trouble once."

"Someone thought you weren't being looked after?" Mike asked.

"I guess. My mum wasn't like me. I was still really small when she started to get old." Terrence frowned. "I don't know what happened to her. I used to remember her really well, but… Bishop did something."

"Any idea what?"

"No."

"That's alright. How about I get Venus to try and find your mother?" Mike smiled. "Do you have a name? Or remember a city you lived in?"

"No name. I think she was born in June. And we lived in Chicago for a bit."

That was all Mike needed to know.

-:-

"Are you kidding me?" Venus asked, tapping her nails against her desk.

"What? You've found people with less info."

"Yeah, people who say in one spot."

"Terrence is also on the floor with the infirmary getting some blood tests." The kid had a cold and Mike went _off._ "I asked them to get you a vile."

"Now that's what I like to hear!" Venus slapped her hand on her desk then twirled in her chair. "It's so much easy to track people with blood magic. But what brought this on?"

"He just started talking about his mother a week ago. I tried looking into it quickly, but I suspect Bishop has her hidden away somewhere."

"If she's even alive."

"There's that too." Mike rubbed his face. "I don't know what I'm going to tell the kid if she's dead."

"Send him to therapy?" Venus said with a cheeky smile. "Something you should have done."

"Shove off."

"Touchy, touchy."

Mike glared. Venus sometimes liked to assume the role of annoying big sister he never had. "I'm going back upstairs to take Terrence home. The jet is yours."

Venus grinned like a kid on Christmas. "Lucky me."

-:-

"Wait, you're in Japan?"

"Yes, Mike."

"And you didn't think to tell me? Maybe I'd want to come to the airport?"

"Splinter didn't want to bother you?"

"Put him on the phone. _Now, Leonardo_."

"Hello, Michelangelo."

"What the hell? You don't even say goodbye? You make this big talk about how I don't handle things well and then you run off like this? Are you fucking kidding?"

"My so-"

"No! You don't get to do this. Do you even know how hurt I am?"

"You never sai-"

"Did you ever ask!? I'm your _son._ You're my _father_. I've never been able to tell you these things and you _know that_. You're meant to look after me and this is the shit you pull?"

"Michelangelo."

"No. No I'm done. I'm sick of this. I'm sick of you getting my hopes up and making me think you're going to do better and then not. You want to talk about emotional withdrawal? You've literally run off to Japan so you wouldn't have to deal with this, leaving the lair as some sort of consolation."

"Mi-"

"No, I'm done. Really. Have a nice life, Yoshi. I'll see you at Christmas."

-:-

Mike's lip twitches. Even if the kid wasn't poking his head down the staircase, he knew his little spat over the phone wouldn't escape Terrence's heightened hearing. "I know you're there, Little T."

"Sorry," Terrence mumbled sheepishly. "I heard you yelling. I thought something was wrong."

"I'm fine. Thank you for checking though."

"Do you want a cookie? Always makes me feel better." Terrence grinned, knowing full well the game he was playing.

"Your teeth are going to fall out with all of this sugar."

"I'll take the risk."

They never asked each other if they wanted to talk. It was established that if they did, they would. Terrence tended to open up with no formality, just random chunks of memory when needed. While Mike did it to express that he cared for and understood Terrence.

Mike clapped his hands together and tried to push through the sinking feeling of abandonment in his gut. "How about we go get take out and eat it on the roof?"

The look Terrence was giving him was telling. The kid wasn't buying it but went along anyway, insisting they try the new gourmet pizza place a few blocks away.

Mike hadn't had pizza in months. That needed to be fixed, and that's how he ended up balancing five pizzas on each hand. There were too many different pizzas on the menu to pick just two. They wanted to try as much as they could.

"My brother and father had told me they were leaving in a month when I asked, but didn't give me a date," Mike said suddenly as they rounded the corner of their block. "They left a week ago."

"That's awful," Terrence scowled, readjusting his grip on his stack of pizzas. "What dicks."

"Language," Mike found himself saying before he could stop himself. Terrence rolled his eyes. They stayed quiet as they entered their building and took the long hike up to the roof. Mike made a note to have an elevator installed.

"For the record," Terrence started. They were watching the sunset and slowly working their way through the pizzas. "I wouldn't leave like that."

"I would hope not," Mike said not unkindly.

"I mean I wouldn't just go and not tell you." Terrence licked at the string of cheese stuck to his lip. "Like I did last time."

"That was a little different, Terrence."

"Still made you feel bad, didn't it?"

Terrence was making a point and looking for reassurance of some kind. Mike found himself vowing to always reassure this kid.

"Yeah, I went a little nutty. I was worried."

They stayed silent after that, staying out until the wind started to chill them.

-:-

"Wait you're still coming to Christmas?" Raph asked incredulously.

"In Japan?" Don's tone was laced with a little more scrutiny.

Mike gnawed on the straw of his milkshake. "Yeah. We're staying at a hotel." Mike looked at his brothers imploringly. "I'm finally taking a break. We're going to stay at a hotel and do tourist stuff."

"He'd really like to see you," Don tried to smile, but he was already recoiling.

"I cut that tie, Don." Mike looked around the diner, hoping to catch the waitress' attention to get another milkshake. "I called him Yoshi."

"That's cold." Raph frowned.

"He ran away from me. I'm not chasing him."

Raph looked at Don and raised a brow. "Come on, college boy. You gotta admit Splinter is holding out for that."

"Yeah," Don sighed. "I'll admit it's a dick move."

"Just so you know, I'm drinking at Christmas," Raph said. "I can't handle this sober."

"Lucky us," Mike said sarcastically.

"God, this is going to be a shit show." Don sighed again, long suffering.

Mike couldn't help but smile. But was right. Christmas wasn't going to be easy.

Mike was going to have to make a call to the Utroms.


	2. Flowers and the Void

Mike thought he might dry reach. He thought he might just projectile vomit his entire digestive track through his nose.

It'd taken a while for Terrence to feel comfortable being alone with anyone but Mike. Mike told him it'd be ok. Seriously what was it with Raph and colossal disasters?

And why did his family think opening a phone call with, "Ok don't panic" was ever appropriate?

"Raphael, what happened?"

"Some random kid ran in front of a truck. Your kid dived for them."

"Ra-"

"Both kids are fine. You're gonna have to buy the guy a new truck though." Mike heard doors shutting on the other end of the line. "I talked the ambulance into taking us to JFHQ. Seriously, the kid is fine."

"Put him on the phone."

There were quiet noises on the other side of the phone and Mike had to take a deep breath. He was shaking.

"Hey, Mike."

"Oh my god, Terrence."

"I'm ok." His voice was quiet, proving to Mike that he really _wasn't ok_. "It was only a small truck."

"A small truck." Mike's voice had no emotion in it.

"We're almost there. Can I give the phone back to Raph?"

"Yeah buddy. Go ahead."

"Mike?"

"I'm not mad."

Mike hung up the phone.

-:-

Terrence was indeed fine, physically. He didn't like being in the infirmary, and Mike knew he went so far as to hold his breathe when they passed the level in the elevator. But the boy made no arguments, just watching Mike watch the medic fuss over him.

"Everything is fine." The medic smiled, choosing to address Mike and Raph together. "He heals exceptionally well if he got injured at all. The problems we have to look out for are things healing wrong."

"But he's fine?" Mike felt a lot more relaxed.

"Yes." The medic turned to Terrence. "But you've got to be careful, ok? If you ever do get hurt, you need to find someone straight away. And take it easy for the next couple of days."

Terrence nodded, biting his lip. "Can I go home now?"

"Yeah, lets go home." Mike turned to his brother. "You coming with?"

"No, I've had enough excitement for one day. I'll text you later."

They texted a lot now because Terrence heard everything that happened in the apartment whether he tried to or not.

Terrence began to fidget before Raph was even out the door. Mike waited for the door to close before addressing Terrence.

"You're not in trouble."

"Really? Guy seemed really mad about his truck."

"He shouldn't have been speeding." Mike had checked the security tapes while waiting for the ambulance to show. "Come on, we're going home. We'll get ice cream sandwiches on the way."

"Sorry you had to buy him a new truck," Terrence mumbled, quickly hopping of the bed and beelining for the door.

"Nu uh, he was in the wrong. I'm not buying him anything." Mike swallowed at the tyre marks across the back of Terrence's torn shirt. " _He_ can buy you some new clothes."

-:-

The son of a bitch really tried to take on the Turtle Titan over the state of his truck. Had the guy just let bygones be bygones Mike wouldn't have stuck his foot in and just let the cops do their job.

But the guy tried. And Mike was _petty_.

He paid for the legal costs of the kid Terrence ended up saving and, even though the Force would have happily provided it for free, sued truck guy to pay up for counselling.

"And that's why you don't fuck with the Turtle Titan!" Raph said, tipping slightly in his chair. Mike just wanted his brothers over for a nice meal. He probably shouldn't have brought out the wine. But the city kept giving him stupid expensive bottles as thanks for one thing or another and he certainly wasn't going to drink them all on his own.

"Please stop swearing!" Mike groaned, swirling his glass around. "Terrence can hear you."

"He's on the fucking roof."

"The windows open."

"Should he really be up there on his own?" Don asked cautiously. "I know he's fine but getting run over by a truck is pretty full on."

Good luck trying to get the kid to admit it though. Mike had asked.

"It didn't really hurt. Bishop's done worse."

That was a minefield. "I know, but it's still scary."

"Yeah but it was the right thing to do."

Seeing Terrence galvanised and ready to argue that made Mike happy enough to drop it. He payed attention though, and Terrence didn't seem uneasy with walking the streets or overly alert when trucks drove by. It'd been a week and a half, Mike was happy that the kid was fine.

"He'd tell me if he was upset," Mike said confidently. He took a sip of his wine. "I don't know how you drank so much of this, Raph. This is a bad one."

"Booze is booze."

"Uh huh," Donnie shrugged and sipped his own glass. "I'll take some off your hands, Mike."

"No way!" Mike sat up in his chair, waving his finger at Donnie. "You know wine! You'll leave me with all the crap and then what am I supposed to give to international dignitaries when they decide to show up and flounce around the JFHQ?"

"That sounds like a _you_ problem."

"You know what, I'll let you have one, because I'm so nice."

"Oh! Mike!" Raph sat up straight in his seat and slammed his fist on the table. "Wanna know something petty?"

Mike raised a brow at how quickly Don seemed to sober up. "Raphael, don't."

"What? He ought to know."

"Tell me what Splinter did this time," Mike said coolly. He really didn't care.

-:-

Mike kept his plans about how and when he was going to make his way to Japan to himself. Splinter was apparently paying for Raph and Don's plane fares, something Don want to keep quiet (he was trying his best to mend the gap, much to everyone's surprise). Mike thought about getting in on the offer out of spite, but didn't want to take the bait. He wouldn't accept that sort of thing from a neighbour, so he wouldn't take it from Splinter. Not anymore.

"What kind of cookies do they have in Japan?" Terrence asked, trying but failing to look disinterested. They were sitting in the cockpit of Mike's jet, getting ready to take off.

"They have plenty. Put your seat belt on."

Terrence wordlessly clicked his belt on, looking forward at the back of Mike's seat. "When do I get to fly the jet?"

Mike stopped pressing the buttons on the console and turned behind him to face Terrence. "You can fly."

"But the jet is cool."

"When you're older."

"But who knows when that will be!?"

Venus probably knew but she was keeping her lips sealed shut about the progress she was making finding Terrence's mother. Apparently, it was a _"real Scooby Doober, so fuck off and let me work."_

"Well its certainly not now." Mike hoped his tone would settle the matter. For a week at least.

-:-

Mike could only manage to get a week off of work for his Christmas vacation and even then, he had to work when he got to Japan. Something about some rich guy he saved once insisting on hosting him for dinner.

Mike struggled his way through the phone call until the rich guy's (Mike knew his name, totally) personal assistant asked what foods they would prefer.

"My kid likes cookies."

"Any particular kind?"

"No, he's just really excited to try anything local."

"Why do you keep telling people that?" Terrence asked when he hung up the phone. "Why do you keep telling them I'm your kid?"

Mike mulled it over for a moment. "Because you are. You're my kid, and I'm your adult. You know?"

Terrence just nodded at the time. So, when he introduced himself to the airport staff by saying "Hello, I'm Terrence. I'm Mike's kid and he's my adult," in broken Japanese, Mike was amused to no end. Mike noted how nervous the kid was in saying it though. So he just smiled, and the staff were appropriately enthusiastic about anything Terrence had to say (perks of having a private airport Mike supposed).

"So, with a whole day devoted to getting here and dinner, Christmas day and then the day we leave, we really only have four days to explore?" Terrence asked on the car ride to the hotel.

"Yeah, sorry bud." Mike smiled, leaning over to show Terrence his phone, flicking through photos. "But look at all these cool places we're gonna go see. I've set up a private viewing of the tulip gardens for after dinner tonight. Oh! This café you'll love!"

"A cat café?"

"They have cat shaped cookies."

Mike laughed, and Terrence held back an excited squeal.

-:-

Mike felt right. His smile was bright, cheeks wind bitten and laugh loud.

He didn't let his mind wander to when the last time he felt this kind of happy. Because he knew his mind would go back to that last lazy slow dance he had with Leatherhead. He'd entered the apartment to find all the furniture pushed to the walls and some jazzy music playing through a phone. Leatherhead smiling sheepishly with a take-out dinner in hand and lit candles scattered everywhere because the power had gone out.

But Mike didn't want to focus on that. He wanted to focus on the present, running through the moonlit tulip field. He wanted to focus on the sweet smell in the air and the sound of Terrence's laugh.

Mike fell back, landing heavy amongst the flowers and laughing until he was out of breath.

"How do the tulips still grow if it's winter?" Terrence asked, floating over and settling next to Mike. He looked up at the starry sky. He was in a daze more than avoiding Mike's eye. Mike let his own eyes wander to the sky.

"It's an artificial garden. They have a few of them on rotation. Special technology alters the weather in the area to trick the flowers into blooming. That way there's always heaps of tulips ready to show."

Mike smiled, taking a deep breath of the scent of dirt and flowers. This was a much nicer use of weather emulation technology than some he had seen. Some he had felt. He would never regret bringing it to Earth.

"And you brought it to Earth? The tech? That's why they let you into the gardens this late at night."

"Yeah," Mike still smiled despite the topic. "I was owed a _favour_ by the Kraang. So, I got the blueprints off of them."

"That's so cool." Terrence huffed a laugh and turned to look at Mike. "When can I go to space?"

"Geez! First the jet now space? We haven't even gone to the cat café!"

-:-

Mike didn't want to do this. He really didn't want to do this.

"Are you ok?" Terrence asked, peeling his eyes away from the countryside to look at Mike with a frown.

"Yeah, I'm just not excited for today." Which was weird because it was _Christmas_ , Mike was always excited.

"I still don't get why we're going to Splinter's. You don't like him, so why are we going to see him?"

It was because Mike was being petty and trying to make some bitter point like a moody teenager, but he had a better justification to tell people. "Because I want to see my brothers for Christmas and they'll be here. I've had these same problems with Splinter all my life and I've never made it other people's problems. No point making my brothers go to two Christmas gatherings. Or create another reason to argue."

"Another reason?"

"Yeah, like this is my year for Christmas sort of thing." Mike noticed how their driver's head tilted ever so slightly, like he was listening. " _And if any of this leaves this car I will have your job,_ " he said in Japanese. The driver's head snapped up and Terrence laughed.

"You're so cool."

-:-

"What the hell, are you smoking?"

Mike flicked the ashes off the end of his butt. He stared out at Splinter's meticulously landscaped garden. The ponds. The small streams connecting them. The bridges that crossed them. It was nice, and Mike felt some twisted satisfaction in littering ashes on the perfectly cut grass beneath the patio. "It's an Utrom anxiety medication, back off."

Mike couldn't see him, but he knew Leo faltered at that. "What? Why?"

"Yeah remember that time my husband died? Or that time I was the toy of two alien race's game of pass the parcel? Or I don't know, my childhood?" Mike twisted a little, glaring at his brother and taking another drag. "And don't start with me. You're not unaccountable in this."

Leo swallowed, and Mike knew they were both thinking of the same thing. Back to a fight when they were fifteen. Leo was still leader but somehow Splinter had taken over a mission to infiltrate the Foot Headquarters, with Mikey as bait. That was nothing new but having Splinter make the call made something dark and ugly roar inside Mikey's chest. He fought with Splinter, in front of his brothers, saying cruel things and rubbing salt on all of Splinter's old wounds. Because while Mike had heard the stories over and over as a child, he felt nothing for them. Mike felt self-righteous because Splinter said nothing, he didn't know what to say. Leo did though.

"Stop it! What's your problem?"

Mike turned to his brother, flanked by the other two. The anger dropped from Mikey's body because he wasn't angry at them. He said matter of factly, "He doesn't love me."

The confusion on his brother's faces didn't sway him and he turned back to Splinter. Splinter stood up and slowly reached out to Mikey, aiming a hand to his shoulder. "Michel-"

"What are you doing?" Mike asked, frowning at Splinter's then stilled hand and up to his face.

"I'm comforting you."

"When have you ever?" Mikey's brows rose in surprise and he looked back down at his father's hand, which was starting to curl in on itself. "Seriously, when?"

Splinter only seemed to deflate more the longer he took to answer, his ears pressing flat against his head. "Mi-"

"You don't get to not love me and then throw me out as bait in your stupid beef with Shredder."

"My so-"

"Don't 'my son' me, look at you!" Mike gestured to Splinter's hand, his voice even and cool. "You don't even know what to do with me! You think I need comfort, but you don't know how? Why?"

Taking another drag, Mike landed back in the present. Leo was now sitting next to him.

"Look, I've said this to Raph and Don before and I really don't feel like having the same fight a third time. I'm glad Splinter is your sun and stars, really. I'm not trying to take that from you, but I'm bitter and angry and you can pry that from my cold dead hands."

"Mike."

"Seriously, Leo. Go through the family photos and try to find a picture of just me and Splinter. Of him looking at me proudly."

Leo's lip twisted. "I'm going to guess Don and Raph already have."

"Bingo." Another drag. He was almost down to the end. "So stop making me out to be the asshole."

"I didn't mean to make you out to be an asshole."

Mike took a final drag before leaning over to rub the butt out in the dirt. "You all did at one point and I'm kind of done with the pity party. I've got bigger things in my life."

"I know you do," Leo said with a rueful smile. He cast his eyes down at Mike's discarded cigarette. "Does that work?"

"Yeah, stopped needing the stuff a year after I got back." Mike scratched his head and smiled a little sheepishly. "I wasn't feeling too good about coming here."

Mike didn't elaborate, even though he didn't want his brother thinking he was tail spinning out of control. Which wasn't true. The cigarettes were the low dosage method of taking the medication. It was kind of like a stress ball. How the Utrom actually administered any kind of medicine was a story for another day.

"But I'm alright. Takes a lot more than this to knock me down."

"That it does," Leo said with a chuckle. It was nice. "So, how is it going with Terrence? He's very..."

"Passive aggressive?" Mike laughed. "Yeah. He's a good kid. If you tell him something bad happened to you he'll just agree that it's bad and won't say sorry. I didn't think he'd be like this with Splinter though."

"He cares about you." Leo ducked his head down. "I don't know what you told him, but I think he's looking out for you."

"You think so?"

"I'm not gonna lie and say that I'm impressed with how Sensei has conducted himself over the last few months. But I think he thinks he can make amends with you by being a good grandfather. And Terrence is a smart kid. I don't think he actually cares for Splinter one way or another, but he knows Splinter hurt you and wants to keep him away."

Mike smiled. "You got all of that from one day with him?"

"I might have called him out for his attitude. He put me in my place."

"Good." Mike raised a brow at Leo, who refused to look his way.

"Splinter wants to know if you wanted him to look after the little guy and the four of us hang out."

"I am never leaving my kid with him."

"Yeah. Donnie and Raph are being really obvious about that."

Mike tilted his head to look at the scene in the living room. Terrence had his back to them, trying to look like he wasn't listening. Raph was swaying a little bit, complaining that Splinter had no Christmas music. Don and Splinter happily chatted away, trying every now and then to engage Terrence to almost no avail.

Mike's pone buzzed in his pocket. He sighed, knowing it would be his driver. "We should head back. He's tired."

"You can stay here. Splinter has a spare room."

Mike might have been tempted, but Terrence didn't like sleeping in a lot of different places over a short period of time. Probably leftover anxiety from him time with his mother and a lot of new anxiety from being carted around Bishop's labs.

"No, we'll head back to the hotel. All of our stuff is there."

They shuffled back into the house. Terrence spun around to face them, lifting off the ground a little and happily disengaging with Splinter mid question.

"Come on, Little T. Time to head back."

"So soon?" Splinter asked, clearly disappointed. "It's only just gone eight."

Mike wanted to say they had been there since morning, or something sarcastic. But Terrence yawned as if on cue. Mike might have accused him of putting on a show if his eyes weren't so bleary when they opened up.

"Some of us didn't sleep last night and are a bit overdue." Mike smiled crookedly and reached down to rub Terrence's head. "Too much sugar. Besides, our driver is out front."

"I'm not tired," Terrence stood up. "This is withdrawals. I need more cookies."

"No." Mike tapped the boys shoulder then pointed behind him. "Come on, say goodbye."

"See ya." Terrence waved and walked towards the front door, unceremoniously. Which made sense because the kid didn't like hugs from anyone but Mike, and even then they were only half hugs if he was particularly stressed about something. Kid flinched whenever Raph tried to touch him, and Raph was apparently 'cool'.

Mike said his goodbyes, giving everyone a hug, even Splinter, because it was Christmas after all.

-:-

"I have good news."

"No bad news?"

"Oh, there are plenty of bad things to tell you but it's hardly news. More like a three-part tragedy."

Terrence's mother was alive. She lived in some no name town in the middle of nowhere in a tiny house. Turned out that Leanne had made her way back to the house she lived in when Terrence was born. Before she started moving city to city to hide her son. Before Bishop started prying.

"She had done quite a good job moving around. Never worked anything more than casual retail jobs."

"Not much to live on." Mike hummed and held his wine glass out for Venus to refill. They were sitting in the parlour of the apartment meant to house international or intergalactic officials in the JFHQ. Terrence was with Raph hiking, a promise that had come with hiking gear at Christmas.

"Not that she needed much. But she managed. But the tax office eventually tried to catch up with her. Eventually someone caught her with a baby that all papers said should be five years old."

"And the case was passed onto Bishop."

"Thrown right into the shadows." Venus blinked slowly, a deep frown setting on her face. "Leanne avoided him incredibly well. Bishop tried to play nice. Offering free medical care for the both of them, a house, an education for Terrence."

"Everything a mother would want for her kid."

"Exactly. Eventually, after many years, she got tired of running. Bishop acted like a nice paediatrician until his suspicion that there was more to Terrence than just a slow age rate was confirmed."

"Do I want to know what he did?" Venus pressed her lips into a thin line and filled their glasses even further. "That bad?"

"Compared to some of the things we've seen? No."

"But?"

"I have followed this woman's trail for months. She is the mother of the child you care for." Venus took a long drink. "That makes this different."

Mike frowned. He kept quiet waiting for Venus to apparently work up the courage.

"He took the child from the house. He had drugged her, cleared the house of all signs of a child while she was unconscious and left. When she woke up in the morning, she naturally went to Bishop. He accused her of being insane."

"No, don't" Mike all but whined, his heart sinking.

"He involved local authorities. Made a mockery of her distress. He ended up having her committed by the state. Over the years he had her moved around, put in different places with different names. She would be treated for psychosis, having made up a child who didn't age. He would visit her just to shake her grip on reality."

"Son of a- he couldn't just let herself believe Terrence never existed?" To be cruel to be kind.

"He is a sadist. But I digress. She escaped when there was a fire at the Washington facility she was being kept in about eight years ago. She somehow managed to make it back to the house she lived in when Terrence was born. Quite impressive for a seventy-four-year-old."

"Wait, that means she's eighty-two now." Venus nodded and Mike rubbed his forehead. "Just tell me what state she's in."

"It will be a few months at least until she is ready."

"Even then would it be appropriate to let Terrence see her?" The poor kid already had enough issues, Mike didn't need to throw a psychotic mother into the mix. Maybe he was better off telling him she had passed on.

A sad expression passed over Venus's face. "I don't think she will ever heal fully. Some things are irreversible. This is how Bishop wanted her to best cover his tracks. I can't guarantee how she'll react."

"What are you doing for her?" Mike asked. His throat felt tight and he was slowly feeling like breaking something.

"Unfortunately medication has often been traumatic for her. Because she was a ward of the state, she did not have the right to deny treatment, so she was forced. Plus given her age I don't think it would be worth putting her through the long-term stresses of treatment. I have made incense burners out of the medication the Utrom prescribe for anxiety. She is taking to them well, and I am having to work on her perception of reality magically."

"Venus."

"I know it's dangerous but I'm not trying to cure her. I just want to help define the lines between reality and psychosis a bit better. A lot of her troubles I feel now stem from deep seated doubt that Bishop set. She just needs to believe me."

"You're using mind control."

"More like selective memory repression." Venus drained her glass. "Hide away the major triggers and tilt her trust so she believes us."

"That sounds quick, V. Why are you dragging this out over months?"

"Because it is cruel. Magic that distorts perception is a dark and filthy kind. I can't heal her, I'm just lying to her. She isn't happy in any sense of the word and she compulsively hurts herself. And it will take me some time to clean the house properly. She has not been... hygienic about caring for herself."

"Is she being watched?"

"I have those closest to us in our circle watching over her and we are paying for the best care." Venus chocked off a sob and tried to refill her glass only to find the bottle empty. "I have followed this woman for months. I dug right into her childhood and found a happy girl. Her favourite colour was green and she had a crush on a boy name Dale when she was at school. She wanted to be a teacher. When I found her, she was laying in her own filth and picking at the scabs on her scalp from where she pulled her hair out. My disdain for Bishop was once only on principle. Now it's personal."

"You really care for this woman," Mike's lip twitched upwards ever so slightly.

"Someone fucking has to."

-:-

Mike chose not to tell Terrence straight away. It was better to wait until they were certain they both could handle the visit. Venus hadn't told Leanne about Terrence either, for fear she would naturally pass before they could meet and what the information might do to her mind.

But one person who did know was Bishop.

"You people had no business, no _right_ to go looking into that," Bishop snapped, holding his posture as if he wasn't standing in Mike's apartment doorway. Terrence had bolted up the stairs to his room before Bishop had even knocked on the door, setting Mike on edge.

"Really, Bish? You're going to tell me off for nosing around?" Mike looked him up and down. "And _again_ , it's night time and you're inside. Lose the sunglasses, jackass."

It really wasn't helping things that all three of Mike's brothers were in earshot, so neither of them could say what they really wanted, and Mike had a tad too much wine with dinner.

"You arrogant-"

"Oh, don't worry your pretty little head about it. We aren't looking to mess with you. Just feeding our own curiosity."

"I find that hard to believe."

"Oh, don't worry, you'll get yours." Mike grinned, toothy and snide. "I'll have you begging by the end of it."

To his brothers it would seem like he was flirting and would be wondering why the conversation was going the way it was. Or why their little brother flirted with threats.

But that was only because they never had the displeasure of knowing who Bishop was.

"Are you quite done?"

"Jackass, you're invading on my property and time!" Mike glared at Bishop. "So, are _you_ quite done?"

They just stared at each other for a few moments. Eventually Bishop leaned in close enough to Mike's face that he could smell what kind of mouth wash the prick used.

"This isn't over, Titan."

"Shove off."

Mike slammed the door.

-:-

Venus looked tired. She'd been using too much magic, that was obvious. All of her paperwork to Mike was sloppy, her stamina in training and battle had gone down, and even the media had noticed a decline in the quality of the speeches she wrote. Mike was expected to take action but he really didn't know where to start.

"You've stepped on toes."

"I have not!" Venus scowled, looking up from the paperwork on her desk and meeting the gaze of Mike's cowl. "I slammed doors closed and their toes just happened to be in the way, there's a difference."

"Take a break, V. The Force will be fine without you for a while."

"Months, I will be gone months, Michelangelo."

"And if we need you we'll call for you. But you can't keep spreading your magic like this. You need to focus on protecting Leanne."

Bishop was looking for her. He was angry that he couldn't find her, but Venus could. Bishop couldn't touch magic. He had no way to combat it and it was inherently too unpredictable to study and conquer the way he would like.

"I can manage."

"Sure you can, but I'm saying you don't have to." Mike smiled while Venus still frowned. "Right now, Leanne is our number one priority, Mei. We can't let Bishop hurt her again."

Venus deflated a little. "You bastard. Using my name like that always works."

"Helps when I'm right too." Mike laughed.

-:-

Terrence couldn't go to school. He had been living with Mike for almost a year and he hadn't seemed to age a day. After Venus found some of Leanne's hospital records, they'd learnt that Terrence was born on June 27th in 1970. He had technically turned sixty-one under a month ago and it made Mike's head spin a little. He thought it would be cruel to make Terrence repeat a year of school so many times.

"Hey, so we found what out when your birthday is. We missed it this year, but we can celebrate it late."

Terrence hummed, pushing his mac and cheese around his bowl instead of actually eating it. He frowned a little and tapped his finger nails against the table top.

"What if… what if I don't care?" he asked hesitantly, looking up at Mike. "I haven't celebrated it in a long time and I don't remember many before that."

Mike hadn't thought about it like that. Admittedly he was really excited for the opportunity to celebrate it. Mike never had to find an excuse to take Terrence out and just relax, but he'd been saving the stupid café in France that had cookies with gold flakes in them for a special occasion.

"That's alright, I'm not going to make you do anything. Just thought you'd want to know. It's important information."

"Yeah, thanks" Terrence mumbled, dropping his fork on the table. "We can celebrate something else though."

Mike didn't miss the hopeful pitch to Terrence's voice, the way it always went up a note when he was nervous. But he simply chewed on a mouthful of macaroni and didn't react to it. "What were you thinking, bud?"

"Umm." Terrence fidgeted in his seat and Mike tried not to show his concern. Terrence wasn't ever nervous to ask for something. Cautious maybe but never hand wringing nervous.

"Everything ok?"

"It nearly been a year since I got officially adopted, you know?" Terrence's eyes flitted everywhere but Mike's face even as he visibly calmed having gotten the words out. "Celebrating that could be cool."

'Cool' seemed to be Terrence's favourite catch all term when he wanted to let someone know he liked something without appearing too attached, like it could be taken away from him. But it was one of the many things Mike didn't call the kid out on.

"It would be cool. And I know the perfect place we can go."

-:-

France had to be put on hold for the sake of an intergalactic emergency. Terrence looked upset for a split second before he keyed into Mike's heartrate.

"I'm really sorry, bud." Mike said hurriedly, running down the stairs of their building. "I have to leave you at the university with Donnie for a couple of hours. Raph is flying in and s'gonna look after you while I'm gone."

"Is everything ok?"

Mike flinched as he slammed the car door too hard, startling Terrence. "Yeah, it'll be fine."

The Utrom had started another incident with the Kraang because of some off handed comment. Mike didn't have all the details, but the Triceraton Resistance had something to do with it and the possible under the table trading of prisoners.

It honestly all felt too familiar.

He could barely concentrate. He _hated_ the university grounds, and his brother just _had_ to be in _that_ building they rebuilt. At least Don was running to meet them outside before Mike had to actually go in.

"Is everything ok?" Don asked. Mike was obviously doing bad job at appearing calm.

"Fine, just something I have to handle." Mike crouched and squeezed Terrence's hand. "Listen to Donnie, don't touch anything or run off, ok? I'll be back in no time."

Terrence nodded, his face set in the expression that he wore when he wanted to do something. Mike was just about to open his mouth and ask if he was ok when Terrence closed the small gap between them and hugged Mike. Hard.

-:-

Mike thought it was lovely that his last action of meaning on Earth was hugging Terrence. It would have been nice under better circumstances, like if it were Terrence seeking to express genuine affection and not a case of his thinking he might not see Mike ever again.

He would have thought it were sad if he could feel anything. Drifting trough the void of space with a concussion and who knew how many other injuries tended to be a numbing experience.

Expect the anger, Mike could feel lots of anger. Stupid aliens getting him into messes he had nothing to do with. Mike thought he'd made clear to both the Utrom and the Kraang to just not bother each other. But _nooooo_ , the Utrom couldn't have just gone about addressing the Kraang's latest acquisition of slave labour from the Triceratons how they were freaking supposed to, which was calling a civilised summit to discuss how they all could better trade legal, consensual labour. They just had to declare their condemnation to the intergalactic community at large.

So Mike had to call the summit at his space station. He used it mostly as a hotel for when he had to do the interplanetary meet and greet grind. It was well staffed with recruits he hand picked and when he wasn't there they worked to provided support and refuge for those displaced out in the middle of space, monitoring many refugee programs on multiple planets, including Earth.

The summit was a shaky one at best and Mike's last thought before it all went to shit was how stupid he was to not bring back up. A small oversight. Not that Mike had a huge intergalactic army ready to go. He really only had Venus for these things and a few rebel forces who liked him well enough. But Venus was elsewhere and Mike couldn't really invite outlaws to these sorts of things.

Maybe they'd hear his distress beacon. He'd take anyone hearing his distress beacon.

 _Scratch that_ , he thought when he felt the distinct tug of the Triceration tractor beam. The Triceraton National Army was easily last on Mike's list of people he wanted to pick him out of the void. Firstly, because they were the ones that got trigger happy and blew up Mike's space station. And secondly, their first instinct would be to put him in cryo. They'd pack him up and send him straight to Earth. Which'd be alright, but Mike couldn't heal in cryo. No one could that's kind of the point of cryo.

But that was exactly what they did. They identified him, made sure he was alive and sent him straight into cryo. Didn't check if he was conscious or even bother to remember his no cryo rule. But then again, they also forgot the whole "The Earth Intergalactic Space Station is a neutral, combat free zone" that they signed a damn treaty about.

 _At least they're consistent_ , Mike thought as the pod door shut and the cold set into his bones.

-:-

Mike tried to do the maths. It took him three days to get to the space station. He was there for a day and a half. It was safe to assume it'd taken three more days to get back to Earth at least. So he'd been gone for a week. Maybe.

He stretched and curled his fingers in the sheet of his hospital bed, hoping to get a rise out of whoever was in the room, breathing gently.

"Michelangelo?"

 _Oh hell no._

"What are you doing here, Splinter?" Mike sat up straight, startling Splinter. "I estimate its only been a week, that's not enough time for you to get here." Let alone care, but Mike bit his tongue.

"It has been more than a week, Michelangelo." Splinter stood up from his seat to tower over him. It was something Splinter would do when he or his brothers were sick. It was just straight intimidation to get them to stay in bed. But that was when they were six and Splinter didn't have a bad back and could stand straight. The attempt might have been amusing if Mike didn't have bigger problems.

"How long?" he asked, swinging his legs over the side of the bed, pointedly ignoring Splinter's hand on his shoulder.

"A week after the incident. The Triceraton Forces had issues returning to Earth and they made no effort to let us know they had you. You've been asleep for three days."

Rebels probably. They never took well to Triceraton ships being in this part of the universe. Mike didn't think him being missing helped either. But them not confirming they had him made sense. The Triceratons were frightening on ground, but their space warfare left something to be desired and the Turtle Titan was one hell of a target.

"So only four extra days than I thought, give or take." Mike mumbled, standing up and limping across the room to the closet.

"You should not be walking around, my son." Splinter's voice was stern. Mike turned to glare at him while pulling on some pants. "You had many injuries, it's a miracle you can move right now."

"Accelerated healing, remember?" Mike raised a brow. "Curtesy of the Kraang. I'd be fully healed by now if I hadn't been stuck in cryo. Slows everything down."

Out of curiosity Mike moved back to the bed and plucked the clipboard off the end on it. Multiple fractures, internal bleeding, burns on 30% of his body. Not his best medical report, but certainly not his worst.

"You must rest some more."

"Moving will help the healing," Mike grumbled, clenching his burnt fist as the skin grew back right before his eyes. "Besides I have things to handle. Who even let you in here?"

Splinter stiffened "I received the call that you had been returned." That was wrong, Raph was meant to get that call.

"They called the lair phone?"

"And I have been visiting for the past three days. I am your father, they can't deny me entry."

"Yes they can it's a private building," Mike said coolly. "Do the guys know I'm back, does Terrence know or have you just been lying to them?"

"Your brothers are at your apartment right now with Terrence."

"That doesn't answer my question, how could you be so selfish?"

Mike really didn't think this would have been the first conversation he had back on Earth. Weirdly enough the pent-up anger he had wasn't meant for Splinter (for once) but the guy kept talking so Mike kept arguing.

"I am your fath-"

"Stop saying that!" Mike pushed through the embarrassment of his voice breaking. "That doesn't mean anything anymore. We're thirty-one, Splinter. You don't get to pick and choose what we do or don't know. You certainly don't have any right to pick and choose what Terrence knows."

Seriously, someone was getting fired for talking to Splinter and not Raph. Mike had lawyers sort this stuff out, Raph happily agreed to it all. But even if he had been dumped at a hospital and not the JFHQ, Mike made it so Splinter had no right to waltz around and have power over anything. Mike was going to stomp some heads.

"Turtle Titan, sir?" Mike snapped his head to the door, glaring at the intern peaking around the door.

"What?"

"Would you like me to call security?" the intern's eyes shifted between the clipboard they were holding and Splinter. "The visitors log doesn't have any record of Mr Hamato being here."

"You snuck in, are you serious!?" Mike glared at Splinter, who didn't waver. _Typical ninja_. "Get the _hell_ out before I throw you out the damn window!"

Splinter stared for a moment, tilting his head back just so, so he was looking down at Mike. Mike straightened his shoulders. Something twinged but he was still more than ready for a fight.

"Please sir, this is private property. If I get security, it will have to become a police matter." The intern spoke with a tad more confidence and made a gesture down the hallway.

Splinter said nothing when he finally turned and walked out of the room.

Mike huffed. "How hard is it to apologise?"

-:-

The intern (Sam, or Sal, or Sarah… maybe he had a problem with names) was a good hire, Mike decided. Office work was their thing. Making phone calls, organising letters and folders was their jam. Behind the scenes, non-confrontational stuff.

"I'm sorry Titan, sir. But you can't leave until an official Justice Force medic has signed you out. I've made a call and one should be here very soon."

"Whose stupid rule was that?"

"Yours, sir."

They were also a pain in the butt stickler for rules.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have the authority to call your family either. You can call them though."

The thought of calling Raph started to give Mike a headache so he shot him a text instead.

 _Hey, I'm alive, awake and on Earth. Come to JFHQ._

"Should I set up the penthouse apartment for you to stay in, sir?"

"That really isn't your job."

"I know, but Ms de Milo took the house staff with her."

Figures.

Mike had the intern bring him a laptop before shooing them out of the room, trying to figure out why the place was so understaffed. He was only gone for two and a half weeks, how was the place left almost solely in the hands of an intern? Then he remembered they hadn't accounted for an incident so technically it was probably Mike's fault.

Plus, he had to figure out how to rearrange the 'flaws' in his security meant explicitly for Bishop to get in and out without turning the wrong heads. Stupid Splinter doing shit he shouldn't.

Mike picked up the phone by his bed and dialled the front desk. "Hey, Sintern."

"You don't remember my name."

"I got blown up in space, cut a guy some slack. I'm promoting you to… whatever position you need to be to do what I'm about to tell you. Accounting will handle it later."

Mike swore he could hear a pen snap in the kid's grip. "But the regulations-"

"My building, my rules, Sintern. Find out how my father was notified about my return. Don't worry about how he got in, that's my problem. Every call to and from this building is recorded, you shouldn't have a hard time."

"And then what, sir?"

"Give me the information and I'll handle it properly."

"Of course." Careful tapping off a keyboard flowed through the phone and Sintern hummed. "Sir, I just want to double check."

"What?"

"This kind of clearance, the system says it's a step down from yours and Ms De Milo's."

Mike tapped his own keyboard pulling up and adjusting Sintern's (Sage, as it turned out) personal file. "Yeah, and?"

"I just-"

"Sintern, that nickname is sticking by the way, you've practically run this place over the last week and it hasn't burned down. I needed a PA anyway. Accounting will handle it. You good?"

"Yes, sir. Oh, your family just pulled up."

-:-

Mike quickly tucked his laptop into thee bedside drawer when he heard the gentle tone of Sintern drifting up the hallway, explaining his condition. Mike was almost fully healed at his point, save for some stiffness and a yearning for a hot meal.

"Now unfortunately he can't leav-"

"Not to be rude, but can you just shut up and let me see my dad?"

" _Terrence_!"

"He's just in this room, excuse me."

Had Mike been a little more put together he might have scolded Terrence the second he flung the door off its hinges. But the kid shot off the ground and tackled him with a hug hard enough to nearly throw him off the bed.

 _Dad._

"Hey, Little T," Mike whispered quietly and wrapped his arms around Terrence.

Was the kid always this small?

Raph rounded the door frame, his hands in his pockets and smiling. "Hey Knucklehead."

"Hey, Raph."

"Leo and Donnie should be here soon," Raph shrugged. "They went looking for Splinter."

Mike sent Raph a glare and made every effort to not let his body tense. Terrence remained oblivious while the spoke through looks.

 _Why the fuck did you text?_

 _Later._

"I'll go talk to Sage, give you guys some space."

Mike nodded and when Raph disappeared he buried his face in Terrence's shoulder.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, bud."

Terrence pulled away suddenly, raking his eyes over Mike's face. "Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine." Terrence moved to sit next to Mike on the bed instead of hovering over his lap. Mike frowned at the bag under the kid's eyes. "When was the last time you slept?"

"Its not like I haven't tried to sleep," Terrence admitted quietly. He fidgeted a little and pressed himself into Mike's side, hugging him tightly. "I was worried."

"Well, I'm ok. I promise." Mike squeezed the boy tight. "I would have let you guys know if I could, you know that right?"

"Uh huh," Terrence sniffed. "Can we go home now?"

"Sorry, bud. We gotta wait till the doc gives me the all clear. It shouldn't be too long. Then we can go get whatever you want for dinner."

"Good. Uncle Raph's cooking sucks."

 _Uncle_ Raph. That was a new one. "Please tell me they didn't make Leo cook for you."

"He meant well."

"Oh god."

"Yeah, we need to renovate the kitchen."

"What, did he blow it up?" Mike asked incredulously.

"I don't know," Terrence mumbled and readjusted his hold on Mike, snuggling in closer. Mike took it as a 'I'm bored now'.

He wanted to say something. He probably should have said something, asked Terrence more questions to make sure he was ok. But for the moment they were both just happy to be there. Together.


End file.
